Greetings from the BellaOnline Cocktails site! Iím Sandy Hemphill, the new Cocktails editor, and Iíve made it my mission at BellaOnline to provide you with 365 reasons for a party (but not all at the same time!!) although ďreason for a partyĒ seems a bit oxymoronic to me. Itís a party. Just do it.

Each week, youíll find at least one party theme, along with cocktail recipes, foods to pair with the cocktail and theme, party favors, decorations, games, news, trivia, and lots more. I welcome your questions so look for questions and answers, too.

Parties are not solitary endeavors. Your participation is tremendously useful and much appreciated. Iím just getting started here so if you have a special occasion coming up sooner than I can address the date and youíd like some party ideas, please contact me via the links on the BellaOnline Cocktails site or in the forum Iím creating. A party every day is my mission but it takes time to plan a party and more time to put those ideas to print. In the meantime, Iím available for private party planning assistance and I may ask to use your party idea in a future post.

Whatís new at the BellaOnline Cocktails site today?

Find some amusing possibilities about where the word ďcocktailĒ came from in the first place and why we associate a roosterís tail feathers with the full spectrum of adult beverages. Thereís no real history or science behind any of these possibilities so if youíve got a cocktail word origin story to share, please do!

Youíll also find an article describing some basic bar terms. My mission is to help you establish a home bar and give you many reasons - one reason for every day of the year! - to put that home bar into play. Youíll need to know some basics of mixology to really enjoy being host to your friends and family at parties throughout the year.

In future posts, look for articles that tell you how to establish a home bar, including a basic supply of liquors to stock, bar tools to have handy, and a few basic recipes to get the party rolling. Iíll explain the hows and whys of intoxication, social responsibility, and some hangover remedies, too, the better to keep the party memories happy, even the morning after the big night.

You are welcome to go directly to my Cocktails website for direct access to my latest posts at any time, day or night, and donít forget to leave feedback, questions, and suggestions at my forum. You can also sign up for more of my weekly newsletters to get a preview of the articles posted during the week before; subscription links are at the bottom and the upper right side of every page at the BellaOnline Cocktails site. Check your inbox for my newsletters every Wednesday, in plenty of time to grab party supplies for the weekend.

At BellaOnline, all newsletters are sent under the strictest secure technologies known to the internet today. You can be certain that signing up for my newsletter - or any newsletter published by BellaOnline - will be safe for both your computer and your privacy. Know also that we never, ever, sell our subscribersí contact or personal information to anybody for any reason. I myself wonít even have access to that kind of information. When you sign up for a BellaOnline newsletter, you get just that - the requested newsletter. Only.